Landscape Design
From basic blueprints to extensive landscape drawings, I bring more than 15 years of experience to your garden design. Specializing in permaculture designs, I use local native seed and plants, as well as edibles. I can do strictly East Bay local natives or a food forest or can mix the two. Greywater, rainwater, and chickens are another layer in the deepening ecological garden web of life.
Examples of Past Gardens Designs
Community Garden: 12th Street Community Garden
Thanks to landowner, Julia Ishamaru, this weedy, trash strewn vacant lot was opened to the public this Earth Day 2001. We cleaned it up, starting planting some food and ornamentals (native and useful non-natives) and the neighborhood kids showed up to help with tenacious enthusiasm. Also some skillshare participants showed up to help from out of town. Then we had the young farmers from West Oakland Greening Initiative lend a hand planting and mulching and doing continued watering. Plans are on hold for now, but it might become a source of food for homeless shelters and a source of jobs!
Permaculture: Southern Baja
Welcome to La Fortuna, B.C.S. Gabriel and Kitzia Howarth’s magical tropical permaculture botanical garden! Gabriel started Seeds of Change and is now back in his mother’s homeland, Baja California. Four years of hard work (with lots of local and U.S. helpers) transformed about 10 acres (of former farmland where locally organic tomatoes and basil are grown for export to the U.S.) into a dryland tropical species rich botanical garden. What an amazing living plant treasure- over 3,500 different species! Last winter my partner Caterina and I traveled to La Fortuna and stayed for a week preparing garden beds for the enormous seed collection they are growing out- 500 tomatoes, 100 lettuces, 100 basils, 100 bock chois, 100 sunflowers, 100 eggplants, 100 chili peppers, and under-story plantings, nitrogen fixers…. Not to mention the food forest: papaya, citrus, passionfruit, bananas, sugar cane (11 varieties!). AND Kitzia is doing a lot of pioneering environmental education with several local schools- hands on permaculture gardening
B.A.S.I.L.- Bay Area Seed Interchange Library
Hosted at the Ecology Center in Berkeley. We’ve held two annual seed swaps that have drawn over 150 people to take free seeds that have been donated or that we have grown ourselves. Check it out! Don’t forget to return some seeds for the next swap.
Permaculture.- Belize
This is where there are very good local permaculture teachers- who are also local native farmers. It is so amazing to watch how fast everything grows- and rots- in the tropics. Permaculture learning curve is very quick here!
Local Example: Beth
In West Berkeley, on a cold rainy day in January 2001, the dedicated Wildheart crew puts in natives and drought tolerant ornamentals in this average lawn and mulches it out. You should see it now! So little work, its really all in the timing.
Local Example: Bill Mitchell
One very generous North Oakland landowner has let us put in a permaculture garden demonstration. This community garden was put in this April all mulching, no turning of the soil and excellent results. More details about how to turn your backyard into this tasty paradise call Michael (823-GROW ) of S.P.A.C.E. (Seed People Agriculture in Cities Everywhere). We have over a dozen fruit trees, many nursery tables, hammocks, total composting, 400+ square feet of vegetables, herbs, medicinal plants, natives. Also on location: plum wine making, a seed librabry, biketruck library, and much more. Volunteers can come and learn more on Fridays.
Private- Local: Cassey’s
Step by step photo tour of replacing the typical front lawn with natives and drought tolerant ornamentals. We put in an adobe brick path, layed down cardboard, planted the plants, and then mulched (first utility mulch and then cedar mulch). Another garden that by next year will need zero watering… Lake Merrit area.
Local: Caterina’s
Former Project Sunflower Education Coordinator, Caterina Nerney Moran posing with the garden. At her home in the Emeryville area we planted and mulched in the winter and got amazing results with huge artichokes, collards, natives, herbs, and flowers. Almost no watering and no weeding!
Local example: Cecilia’s
An English woman with and cottage garden in North Oakland. Starting to mulch and grow more food plants like raspberries, scarlet runner beans, apples, plums, pears, apricots…
Codornices Creek Community Garden
Another vacant lot transformed into a community garden thanks to Spiral Gardens, neighbors, and East Bay Chinese Alliance Church’s 5 year lease. Then….KABAM! Enter Temple Beth-El and you have eviction and plans to put in 36 parking spaces and a driveway. It was a very productive garden…. Located in North Berkeley, with a beautiful creek running through it. Unplanned development in the area lead to erosion (thanks to the Army Corps of Enginners that culverted the creek in the 1950’s). This is also a historical spot, it was the first farm in Berkeley, and it had never been developed. It is essential that we stop such ruthless short-sighted development and keep open spaces and wildlife corridors alive! Let’s daylight our creeks!
David’s
This edible, native, herb and flower garden in Corte Madera (Marin County) shows us East Bayers just what a microclimate can do. You can also see this in East Oakland especially into the hills. Much less fog and wind… results? Very fast growth and much warmer temperatures. I have never seen native Clarkias (Farewell to Springs) this big.
Detroit Summer
This “intergeneration youth leadership development program designed to re-spirit Detroit from the ground up” involves community gardening, murals, cleaning up vacant lots, painting and repairing homes. Each summer for four weeks, young people from across the country come to Detroit to help with local projects and team up with local high school students and community folks. This is where I got my inspiration for growing food in the cities in community gardens. I participated from 1992 to 1995.
Gerald Hairston
In memory of Gerald Hairston, “Mr. Garden Tour”, and an incredible dedicated and spirited community gardener, carnival float maker, and the glue that brought hundreds of people together. We’ll miss you Gerald!
Berkeley Farmer’s Market
For two years, we have been selling all of our wonderful plants on Tuesdays at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market. Look for us in the Spring 2002. It’s also a great place for produce, fruit, and socializing with the growers directly.
Gill Tract
Two years and three classes taught at UC Berkeley with Christos Vasilikiotis. This is the biggest urban agriculture land in the Bay Area. We were lucky enough to grow seeds, food for the homeless, and for students and volunteers. All in the face of growing corporatization of our “public” universities. Novartis and Biotechnology firms gave UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources $50 million… and now there is no room for an organic student run farm, or a youth run C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) that existed there (called RISE Urban Farm). UCB is a land grant college? Give us the land back from greedy coorporations!